Henry Cejudo shares astonishing take on Merab Dvalishvili's 'GOAT' status after Umar Nurmagomedov win at UFC 311: "At least in my eyes"

Merab Dvalishvili is indeed the greatest bantamweight of all time, at least according to former foe Henry Cejudo. 'Triple C' made the admission on the latest episode of the Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry podcast he co-hosts with fellow former UFC champion Kamaru Usman.

'The Machine' is coming off an impressive and hard-fought win over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, which earned him his first bantamweight title defense. Nevertheless, Cejudo believes that Dvalishvili's strength of schedule is enough to hail him as the bantamweight GOAT.

"[Petr] Yan, [Sean] O'Malley, [Henry] Cejudo, Umar [Nurmagomedov], [Marlon] Moraes, [José] Aldo. I mean, he's fought everybody, dude. He's fought everybody, he's beat everybody in this division, f*** it, you can say in their prime, dude. You know, and you just can't [deny it]. He is, Merab is the bantamweight GOAT, at least in my eyes."

Check out Henry Cejudo praising Merab Dvalishvili (20:42):

There is no denying Dvalishvili's exploits in the division. While he just scored his first title defense, his résumé is arguably stronger than those of the other two bantamweight GOAT candidates, Aljamain Sterling and Dominick Cruz. Prior to UFC 311, Nurmagomedov was the undefeated uncrowned champion.

Afterward, he became yet another footnote in Dvalishvili's journey to legendary status. Besides the Dagestani star, he has also beaten Sean O'Malley, Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, José Aldo, and Marlon Moraes, with four of those fighters being champions and Aldo being one of the greatest fighters of all time.

Meanwhile, Sterling's résumé is weaker. He lost to O'Malley, had a split-decision win over 'Triple C,' a TKO win over an injured and one-armed T.J. Dillashaw, a controversial split-decision win over Yan, a prior disqualification win over the same man, and a submission win over Cory Sandhagen.

Cruz's record is arguably the weakest of the three, with his bantamweight legacy hinging on his wins over Urijah Faber, a highly competitive split-decision win over Dillashaw, a unanimous decision win against a former flyweight, albeit a great one, in Demetrious Johnson, and wins over Joseph Benavidez.

---

Henry Cejudo has fought Merab Dvalishvili and every other bantamweight GOAT

Henry Cejudo's last three fights were all against the three bantamweight GOATs: Merab Dvalishvili, Aljamain Sterling, and Dominick Cruz. Despite his Olympic wrestling credentials, Cejudo was outwrestled and embarrassed by Dvalishvili, losing via unanimous decision.

However, his bout with Sterling was far more competitive, with 'Triple C' losing via controversial split-decision. Finally, his fight with Cruz was successful, as he TKO'd 'The Dominator' in round two.